Pulmonary sclerosing pneumocytoma presents diagnostic and therapeutic challenges.

Right VATS lobectomy is an effective treatment for some cases of PSP.

There is no established protocol to follow cases of PSP postoperatively.

NCCN guidelines may provide a potential postoperative surveillance plan.

Pulmonary sclerosing pneumocytoma (PSP) is a rare tumor thought to originate from respiratory epithelial cells. It is usually benign, but may rarely metastasize to lymph nodes. Surgeons face unique challenges in diagnosis and management of this condition, and ideal surgical management is yet to be established.

48-year-old woman with a 7 × 7 mm pulmonary lesion discovered incidentally on computerized tomography (CT) imaging, which grew to 9 mm over the following year. Seven years later, follow-up imaging revealed that the mass had grown to 1.3 cm in largest dimension. Surgery was recommended and the mass was resected via a right video-assisted thoracic surgery (VATS) middle lobectomy with mediastinal lymph node dissection. All lymph nodes were negative and the patient's postoperative course was unremarkable.

There are few evidence-based guidelines available on the treatment and postoperative surveillance of PSP. Research has shown comparable recurrence-free survival rates for sublobar resection and lobectomy, though recurrence can occur, especially following sublobar resection in larger or more centrally-located tumors. In absence of established guidelines, it was decided to follow this patient according to NCCN guidelines for surveillance of early-stage non-small cell lung cancer due to potential risk of recurrence.

This case report adds to the limited literature on PSP and depicts a possible treatment and postoperative follow-up plan. Right VATS middle lobectomy can effectively treat some cases of central PSP. In absence of established guidelines for postoperative follow-up of PSP, NCCN guidelines may outline one possible strategy for postoperative management.

Pulmonary sclerosing pneumocytoma

Video-assisted thoracic surgery

Minimally invasive lobectomy

Postoperative management

Case report

pulmonary sclerosing pneumocytoma

video-assisted thoracic surgery

computerized tomography

positron emission tomography

standardized uptake value

© 2022 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Ltd on behalf of IJS Publishing Group Ltd.